lyddite

[ lid-ahyt ]

noun

, Chemistry.

1. a high explosive consisting chiefly of picric acid.

lyddite

/ ˈlɪdaɪt /

noun

1. an explosive consisting chiefly of fused picric acid
2. a dense black variety of chert, formerly used as a touchstone

Word History and Origins

Origin of lyddite¹

1885–90; named after Lydd, borough in SE England near the site where it was first tested; -ite ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of lyddite¹

C19: (sense 1) named after Lydd, a town in Kent near which the first tests were made

Example Sentences

“It seemed unbelievable but it was a fact. Then I wondered if what I had just come from was fact & caught sight of the yellow of the Lyddite or whatever the Bulgars used in their shells on my fingers & finger nails.”

From New York Times

It was “like electric shocks in both legs” or “a lyddite shell,” as one author observed in 1900, just four years after the introduction of that explosive into the British Army.

From New York Times

He explains that when "lyddite", an early type of high explosive, dries out it can become very unstable.

From BBC

Consequently, it would not be necessary to pick out the separate emplacements and guns for destruction, it would only be necessary to drop a steel projectile filled with high explosive, lyddite, for instance, on or near the range-finding bases.

From Scientific American

"A shell would never throw out a cloud of smoke like that; it's not the colour of lyddite either."

From Project Gutenberg